World number one Aryna Sabalenka reached her fourth Stuttgart Open final with a hard-fought 7-5 6-4 win over Italy’s Jasmine Paolini.
The 26-year-old is targeting a first title, though, having lost to Ash Barty in 2021 and Iga Swiatek in both 2022 and 2023.
Sabalenka held her nerve to take the first set despite almost throwing away a 5-2 lead, before Paolini started strongly to win the first three games of the second.
But breaks in the fifth and ninth games saw Sabalenka fight back to set up a final meeting with Jelena Ostapenko on Monday.
“She makes me work for every point. It was hard to get the win,” said the Belarusian of Paolini, 29. “I was just trying to stay aggressive, to put as much pressure on her.”
Sabalenka has won all three of her previous meetings with world number 24 Ostapenko.
The 27-year-old Latvian, who upset world number two Swiatek in the quarter-final, comfortably overcame unseeded Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4 6-4 in her last-four tie.
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17 minutes ago
World number one Aryna Sabalenka reached her fourth Stuttgart Open final with a hard-fought 7-5 6-4 win over Italy’s Jasmine Paolini.
The 26-year-old is targeting a first title, though, having lost to Ash Barty in 2021 and Iga Swiatek in both 2022 and 2023.
Sabalenka held her nerve to take the first set despite almost throwing away a 5-2 lead, before Paolini started strongly to win the first three games of the second.
But breaks in the fifth and ninth games saw Sabalenka fight back to set up a final meeting with Jelena Ostapenko on Monday.
“She makes me work for every point. It was hard to get the win,” said the Belarusian of Paolini, 29. “I was just trying to stay aggressive, to put as much pressure on her.”
Sabalenka has won all three of her previous meetings with world number 24 Ostapenko.
The 27-year-old Latvian, who upset world number two Swiatek in the quarter-final, comfortably overcame unseeded Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4 6-4 in her last-four tie.
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